REPORT ON FORESTS. 315 



which the walls are made is not, I believe, positively known. 

 The cattle stand knee-deep in a mass of heath-litter and dung. 

 In order to supply this litter an area at least five times the area 

 of the cultivated fields is robbed of its cover. The removal of 

 marl and turf and continuous cropping without rotation have 

 produced a degree of poverty which is often pitiful. 



The heath, in fact, is the land of the " little man," that is, the 

 man of small pursuits. Birch and heath twigs are converted 

 into brooms and brushes. Berries are sent to Bremen and 

 Hamburg and are used in the manufacture of wine. Edible 

 mushrooms are assiduously collected and juniper berries are 

 picked for the manufacture of gin. Even the fine roots of the 

 pine are woven into baskets. 



According to Salfeld old chronicles and documents give 

 assurance that the geest lands of Northwest Germany were 

 once richly wooded. There are instances of remnants of old 

 and extensive forests. " The extent of the forest was meas- 

 ured," says Salfeld, "by the length of time a squirrel could pass 

 through it by leaping from tree to tree." These forests were of 

 deciduous trees. They have been supplanted by the pine, 

 owing to the gradual impoverishment of the soil. Storms, fire 

 and insects played havoc in these coniferous woods, and swine- 

 herds and shepherds wandered at will with their flocks. 

 There was great eagerness to clear the land for fields and mead- 

 ows. The end has been reached, and now begins the long, 

 tedious and expensive work of reforestation, which is the only 

 salvation for abused and depleted sand-lands. 



All this illustrates well the fact that unless the forest plays a 

 part in the rotation of crops on sandy land it is only a question 

 of time before the soil becomes absolutely sterile. 



This land is being reclaimed first by deep ploughing,* which 

 thoroughly loosens the soil and brings the richer subsoil to the 

 surface. 



The second step is in planting a leguminous crop for green 

 manure. For this purpose the yellow lupine, what is called in 

 Brandenburg "the gold of the desert" is used. This does not 



* The work of reclaiming the Luneburger Heath did not begin in earnest until 1870. It will be many 

 years before the plantations will become remunerative. The growth is slow and the cost of reclamation 

 high. Of late years steam ploughs have been extensively used in order to thoroughly loosen the soil. 



